Continuous automatic drier.



G. A. WBNDELL.

commnous AUTOMATIC DRIER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 31, 1912.

1,088,754. Patented Mar-3,1914.

. a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

c. A. WENDB'LL, CONTINUOUS AUTOMATIC DRIER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31, 1912 Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SEBBT 2.

C. A. WENDELL.

CONTINUOUS AUTOMATIC DRIER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY31, 1912.

Patnted Mar. 3, 1914.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

To all whom it may concern UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

can!) L-WENDELL, or JOLIET, ILLINOIS.

Osma -'s: AUTOMATIC DRIER.

- Be it known that I, CARL A. WEnDnLL, a subject of the King of Sweden, residing at Joliet, in the county of Will and State of Illinois, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Continuous Automatic Driers, of which the followingis a specifi cation.

My invention relates to driers, and refers particularly to continuous centrifugal dr ers which areadapted for use in drying coal and other solids.

I am aware that centrifugal driers have been used in the past, but one of the greatest disadvantages of such driers has been that it was necessary to periodically stop the drier in order to remove therefrom the product. p

It is the object of my invention to provide a drier which is economical in construction and which operates continuously and automatically so thatno stoppage for the removal of the driedv material is necessary. I carry out this object by using a rotatable separator, preferably of circular form, which has a plurality of pockets around its periphery. These pockets are supplied with the material to be dried by means of a rotatable spout which travels at a slightly di fl'erout speed from that of the separator. In this way the material to be dried is fed successively to the above-mentioned pockets, which are automatically emptied just before the reception of new material to be dried. The pockets are provided with screens, perforated plates, or the like, to allow the escape of liquid which is discharged by centrifugal action. These and other advantages of my invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, which show a preferred embodiment of my invention, and in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through my improved drier, taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 3; Fig. 2 a plan of the parts shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, a portion of the casing being broken away to show the construction of the drying pockets; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged horizontal section of Specification of Letters Patent.

. dried and, Fig. 6 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Resting on the foundation 1 is the cir- Patented Mar. 3, 1914. Application filed Kay 31 1912. Serial No. 700 748. y "T1 ii saith.) U .l

cular support 11, to which are suitablyattached the frame members 12. These frame members are attached to, and support between them, the bearing member 13. Extending inwardly from the support 11 are the beams 14, which carry between them the bearing support 15, which, in turn, carriesthe bearing 16, having the bushing 17 and the end-thrust bearing 18.

The shaft 19, having the driving 20, is supported .by the bearing :nem er 13 and the bearin 16'with its end-thrust hearing 18. The pinion 21 is keyed to the shaft 19, and is in mesh with the gear 22 rigidly mounted on the shaft 23, which, in turn, is carried by the bracket 24 attached to the bearing meniber 13. The gear 25, of slightly greater diameter than the ear 22, is also rigidly mounted on the sha t 23, and is in mesh with the pinion 26 on the end of sleeve 27, the latter encircling the shaft 19. One or more spouts 28 are fastened to the flange 29 of the sleeve 27 and rotate with the latter. The upper ends of the spouts 28 are pro vided with the collar 30, within which projects the end of the hopper 31. The lower end. of the sleeve 27 is supported, by means of the balls 32, on the upper end of the member 33 rigidly mounted on the shaft 19. To the flange 34 of member 33 '5 attached the conical wall .34 of the separator,-which is designated as a whole by 35.

The separator 35 has a plurality of pockets or compartments 36 around its periphery, and is provided with the shield 37 overlapping the spouts 28. Each of the pockets 36 has a movable bottom 38, hinged at 39, the counterbalancing weight 40 carried by the bracket 41 serving to normally keep each of the bottom plates 38 in closed position. A rod 42. having a bent end 43, is attached to each of the weights 40, this rod projecting upward through an aperture 44 in the bottom of the, separator. Each pocket 36 is covered by the top plate 45, which, with the obliquely disposed plate 46, forms the out lets 47. Extending downward and outward through the pockets 36 is the separating screen 48, the edges of which are securely fastened to the top plate 45 and the lower ulley I I edge of bottom plates 38 of t f to revolve, the s out 28 will gradually pass an a ,ously described differential gear connections coal is thrown outwardly through the screen mounted on t .pockcts 36. "This plate 46 respectively. The pockets 36 are separated from each other-by a plurality of curved division plates 49, each of which preferably has a radial portion 50 portion 51 pointing in the direction oppbsite to that in which the separator rotates,- as will be explained hereafter; The receiving hopper 52 is carried by th eams'fi and has anupper flahged portion 3 extending to aposition just below the outlets 47. The liquid receiving chamber 54, having outlet pipes 55, is formed by the por tion 53 of the receiving hopper 52, and the plate'56, attached to said portion 53 and also suitably bent to form the casing or hood 57 The plate 56 is also attached to the frame members 12 by the brackets 58.

As most clearly shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 6, each spout 28 carries an arm 59, having on its end the cam 60, adapted to engage the bent ends 43 of the rods42, thereby raising the latter and causin the corresponding he pockets, 36 to be opened.

Having thus described the various parts used in my improved drie'r, its operation may now be readily understood: The shaft 19 is rotated at any desiredspeed-for example, two hundred revolutions per minute. This causes theseparator 35 to be rotated at the same speed, but on account of the previ' between the shaft 19 and the sleeve 27 the latter is rotated at a slightly greater speed for example, two' hundred and one revolutionsper minute. Coal, or other, materialto be dried,:is nowfed into the hopper 31;:fro'm which it passes into the spouts 28. For the sake of simplicity, let us assume there is only a single spout 28. From this spout the coal passes -1nto one of the pockets 36. By centrifugal action the moisture in the 48-, and thence passes through outlet 47 into the liquid receiving chamber 54 from which the liquid is drained through outlets 55. As the separator 35'and the spout 2& continue to the next; oc st 36, since the spout is e sleeve 27, which is rotating l slightly faster than the separator 35. In this manner all the pockets 36 will be successively supplied with coal, the time required bein exactly one minute if the spout 28 is rotating one revolution per minute more than the separator In order to make the operation of my drier continuous, it is necessary that the coal should be automatically discharged from the is accomplished by means i of the cam .60 on the end of arm 59 carried by the spent 28. It will be clear that when the separator 35 and the spout 28 are rotat- 5 ing in the-direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3, the pocket in advance of the one i spout being differentially beingsupplied with coal will be automatically opened by the cam 60, so that the coal in said pocket will be emptied into'the receiving hopper 52. Bythe time the spout, 28 reaches this pocket, the rod 42 will have been released from the cam 60, and the bottom plate 38 will have been closed, so that the pocket is ready to receive its portion of coal. Assuming that there are sixteen pockets, and the cam 60 is so placed that durin the feeding of coal to any pocket the pocket next adjacent is emptied, and also assuming that only one spout is used, with the speeds previously mentioned, any given portion of coal will be subjected to the centrifugal drying action for a period of fifteen six-:';

teenths Gi of a minute. When two spouts are used, this time would, of course, be exactly one-half as long. Any desired speed ratios of the spouts and separator, and an number of spouts, may be employed without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I employ the special form'of division plates 49 which I have described so that the coal or other material to be dried is quickly and readily carried into contact with the screen 48.

It will be apparent that many changes could be made in the detailed structure of the parts which I have described Without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention. For example, the pockets 36 may be provided with doors in any desired position, and these doors may be automatically opened by a great variety of equivalent devices; the ditferential speed between the spout or spouts and the separator may beattained in a number of difi'ercnt Ways, and many other detailed changes-of construction will readily occur to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is: v

1. In a centrifugal drier, the combination of a frame, a pair of horizontal, rotatable, differentially geared members, one of said members being in the form of a delivery spout, the other of said'members acting as a. separating member whereby moisture is projected from the material by centrifugal action, a screen carried by said last named member, said screen being mounted at an angle to the vertical, and a trap mounted in said last named member and located beneath said screen whereby materials forced against said screen by the centrifugal force is by the same force projected downwardly and out-' wardly through said trap, snbstainially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the

i combination of a frame, a rotatable casing,

a rotatable delivery spout, said casing and geared ulnrrchv both aro'rotated in the same dircction but at dillcrent spccdgsaid casing being provided with a screen, said screen biting secured to tho bottom wall of said casing and extending upwardly and inwardly in a, substantially and outwardly materiel? forced against said straightlling, andl a trap mounited in the botscreen, substantially as described. tom wa o sai casin sai trap serving the space over which sa d screen is inclined CARL WENDELL' 5 and means for periodically opening. said -Witnesses:

tra the arrangement being such that cen- H. B. SMITH, tri ugal force tends to pro ect downwardly J. P. Em.

- Copies of. this patent may be obtained for line cente each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents.

. Washington, D. 0." 

